The Night Children

Part 8

My dad is pacing in his office. He has been for ten minutes, after he dragged me there before I had a chance to eat the marvelous cake Alyssa made.

"How long have you known?"

I frown.

"I don't think..."

"Gabi!"

"Alright calm your tits... I was gonna say, I don't think I knew for sure until I talked to him through the mind link, and even now... It doesn't make sense."

"Why?"

He seems puzzled, surprised by my statement.

"Well, mates are supposed to know right away ya know. I remember when Malia and Ty showed up for the first time, fresh outta the Big Apple, she looked at Esteban and boom, they were in a bedroom. It's supposed to be fireworks and shit, that's what everyone says. The first time I saw Scott I just thought he looked like a bear, even if he was hot."

I sigh and look up, to see my dad grinning.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Honey, fireworks and shit doesn't work for everyone. If it does, good for them, but every wolf is unique, every person is unique. Usually if you're in sync with your wolf you can recognize your mate quickly, but I know the two of you," he gestures at my head, "are always bickering. I can sense it."

My wolf snickers.

Traitor.

"See, it's happening right now. The two of you rarely agree on things, when you do you act and talk as one. But if she was trying to tell you that you found your mate you would deny it and be blind to it. Especially since you've always been so vehemently against having a man by your side. A part of you refuses to accept a mate."

"You mean even though we're pretty sure Scott is my mate I haven't accepted him yet? How can you even tell?"

My dad sits beside me and takes my hand.

"What do you smell when you sniff at Malia or Esteban?"

"Malia smells like peanut butter. Like Esteban," I smile.

"What about Ty and Will?"

"Licorice."

"Tom and Alyssa?"

"Pinewood."

I frown.

"They smell the same, does that mean I smell like juniper berry? Because Scott does."

My dad laughs.

"No honey, when you find your mate and accept him, or her, your scents become one for people around you. You can still smell your mate's scent, but to other wolves, you're one. The stronger wolf's scent becomes the one of the other."

"So, what was Malia's scent before she and Esteban became one?"

"Peanut butter."

I gape and he laughs again.

"Malia is a beta, she's older and wiser than Esteban. Will smelled like citrus. I don't know about Alyssa, I didn't know her before she and Tom mated."

"What do I smell?"

His eyes soften.

"Camellia, like your mother."

My throat tightens and for a minute I just stare at the floor, unable to speak.

"So, when we arrived in the living room and you smelled us like we were the next dish..."

"Your scents are only intertwined. So we know you...did things."

He clears his throat, suddenly uneasy.

"Dad it's 2019, I'm 22, you're allowed to say that we had s..."

He puts his fingers in his ears, looking all dramatic, and I laugh.

"When your mother and I met there weren't fireworks either." He looks at me and smiles. "She thought I was an ass and ignored me for weeks. And I couldn't stop looking at her, although she annoyed the hell out of me. One day she came to me for a favor, god she hated it. She swallowed her pride and I was so impressed I stayed more or less polite and I obliged. We started talking then. Realized slowly that our behavior toward each other was ... changing."

"She didn't want to accept you either?"

"I didn't want to accept her. I was so full of shit."

I laugh.

"Did you notice anything different, in the way you behave with Scott, compared to other men?," he asks.

It takes me a minute to think about it and say it out loud.

"I don't mind him touching me. Matt put his hands on me and it felt cold and disgusting. Scott feels warm and ... right." I pause. "I looked away."

My dad raises his eyebrows.

"You looked away?"

"The day after the forest I think. We were talking, we looked at each other, and I looked away."

"You dropped your gaze."

"I never..."

"You didn't submit sweetpea. You probably reacted unconsciously to something your wolf was trying to say or do."

We stay silent for a while, listening to the music above our heads, dad still holding my hand.

"What do I do?"

"Do you want a mate?"

I have zero fucking idea.

Yes.

Shut up you.

"Okay, I'm going now."

I stand up and head to the door, I want a piece of cake before it's all gone.

"And what did you mean when you said Matt put his hands on you?," my dad yells.